KEY POINTS:
CENTURION- Mark Gillespie will always remember November 17 as a special day even though it was yet another day of misery for New Zealand on their troubled cricket tour of South Africa.
Another Jacques Kallis century and another big partnership with Hashim Amla left South Africa on 272
for three, already 84 runs ahead on first innings, when bad light brought a halt to proceedings 40 minutes after tea on the second day of the second test at Centurion today.
Gillespie, making his debut in place of injured bowling kingpin Shane Bond, was called into service straight after tea to try and break a partnership of 220 between Kallis and Amla, who shared a stand of 330 at the Wanderers to shut New Zealand out of the first test.
Gillespie had begun to swing the ball midway through the second session and captain Daniel Vettori's hunch paid off as the limited-overs star swerved his fifth ball sharply back into Kallis's pads and his appeal was accepted by umpire Mark Benson, giving the 28-year-old a notable first test wicket.
Kallis was gone for 131, a magnificent innings that included 17 fours and two sixes, but Gillespie was out of the attack just two overs later, suffering from cramp.
"It's my first four or five-day game since December 2006 so it's a long time since I've been on my legs all day," he explained.
"It was a very special wicket for me, I've wanted to play test cricket for a long time because it's the ultimate, that's why you play the game. What made it particularly special was the situation, we really needed to break that partnership.
"The pitch is keeping low at times and if you can hit the right length consistently, then you can cause problems," Gillespie said.
Chris Martin was also amongst the wickets today, once again forcing Graeme Smith (2) to play-on with an angled bat and bowling Herschelle Gibbs (25) with a fine delivery that came back a long way.
But Kallis and Amla, who finished on 89 not out, then put more torment on the Black Caps, who only tasted success again three-and-three-quarter hours later.
"The ball actually fell apart early on and then, much to our surprise, it started swinging and that's how I got the wicket," Gillespie said.
Given the condition of the ball, which had been used for 59 overs at tea and had been subjected to quite a battering by Kallis, it was surprising that the swing was conventional and not reverse.
"Yeah it was conventional swing that got the wicket, I don't know if it's because I'm a spastic type of bowler," Gillespie said.
Despite the happy memory for the Wellington quick, New Zealand will go into the third day still trying to extricate themselves from a perilous position.
The last time they played at Centurion, in April 2006, they led by 51 runs on the first innings and still lost by 128 runs.
But at least opening batsman Craig Cumming, who suffered a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw when he was assaulted by a Dale Steyn bouncer in the first innings, is making progress.
Lindsay Crocker, the Black Caps manager, said he had spoken to Cumming after stumps and the 32-year-old was in reasonable spirits.
"He's out of intensive care and in a general ward and hopefully he'll be out tomorrow or on Monday at the latest," Crocker said.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand
First innings
C Cumming retired hurt 48
M Papps c Gibbs b Ntini 9
L Vincent c Harris b Steyn 33
S Fleming c Prince b Kallis 43
S Styris lbw b Steyn 3
R Taylor c Prince b Nel 17
B McCullum c De Villiers b Nel 13
D Vettori not out 17
M Gillespie lbw b Steyn 0
I O'Brien c Gibbs b Steyn 0
C Martin c Kallis b Ntini 0
Extras (lb2, nb3) 5
Total (all out off 56.4 overs) 188
Falls: 1-26 (Papps), 2-88 (Vincent), 3-105 (Styris), 4-147 (Taylor), 5-165 (Fleming), 6-184 (McCullum), 7-187 (Gillespie), 8-187 (O'Brien), 9-188 (Martin)
Bowling: Steyn 14-5-42-4 (1nb), Ntini 15.4-4-52-2, Kallis 11-2-35-1 (2nb), Nel 13-3-42-2, Harris 3-0-15-0
South Africa
First innings
G Smith b Martin 2
H Gibbs b Martin 25
H Amla not out 89
J Kallis lbw b Gillespie 131
A Prince not out 8
Extras (b5, nb10, w2) 17
Total (3 wkts, 66 overs) 272
Falls: 1-2 (Smith), 2-31 (Gibbs), 3-251 (Kallis)
Bowling: Martin 18-5-56-2 (2nb, 2w), Gillespie 19-4-84-1 (4nb), O'Brien 15-3-66-0 (1nb), Vettori 10-0-44-0 (2nb), Styris 4-0-17-0 (1nb).
- NZPA
